By Roland Murphy for AZBEX
While the approval of Arizona’s first Buc-ee’s convenience store was getting all the attention, there was plenty of newsworthy action on the industrial development front in Goodyear as well.
The requests for the 75KSF travel center also included a 722KSF, four-building industrial proposal from EJM Development with structures ranging from 143KSF to 203KSF. That plan was mentioned in the Buc-ee’s project without much, if any additional detail in most outlets.
Going almost completely unnoticed in the travel center hoopla, however, was a separate EJM proposal for a roughly 51-acre site located two parcels to the south of Buc-ee’s that would deliver another three-building light industrial park and a single-building self-storage center to the NEC of Van Buren Street and Bullard Avenue.
EJM requested rezoning and a special use permit to change the agricultural site’s designation from Preliminary Planned Area Development to Light Industrial Planned Area Development Overlay. The PAD Overlay request was necessary to allow increased heights, include the self-storage uses and reduce some landscape setbacks.
According to the development plan in the submitted project narrative, “The proposed light industrial/employment use will occupy the majority of the Site and is planned to consist of three buildings ranging in size from 188.8KSF to 240KSF. The heights of the buildings are proposed to be approximately 51 feet in height… Self-storage is proposed on the northeast leg of the Site. Eight vehicular access points are proposed on the Site. Three access points will be located on Van Buren Street, one will be located on Bullard Avenue, and four will be located on Celebrate Life Way. An internal private drive circulation system is proposed to allow users of the industrial portion and the self-storage portion to access the entire site.”
Several enhanced design components were included with the application and review, including a prohibition on cross-dock warehousing and cross-dock transfer facilities and limitations on the number and locations of roll-up doors. The westernmost commercial buildings adjacent to Bullard will also have to provide direct pedestrian connections.
Since the location has no residential properties in the immediate vicinity and is similar in zoning and planned use to other surrounding parcels, there was no public opposition to the plan. No members of the public spoke at the Jan. 29 City Council meeting, where the requests were approved unanimously.
